Golden Hearts High
by Gaarasgurl666
Summary: Love Triangles. Hard decisions. Friendship and romance blooming. All the wonderful pleasures of High school. OC/Demyx or Riku, your choice.
1. Chapter 1: Moving In

My name is **(Name)** and my mother and I just moved here to Destiny Islands. We got a nice house along the beach, it wasn't the biggest thing around, but it was nice, clean, and cozy for a cheap house. Normally, I wouldn't complain about moving, especially since we moved from a shack in a city with polluted air, but my junior year was coming up. I would rather be with people that I'd known my whole life that last two years of school, you know? Starting all over was not easy but for my mom's sake, I had to suck it up.

I wasn't doing a very good job of acting like it didn't bother me.

I sighed, laying my head on the kitchen table. Wood wasn't too comfortable, but I was feeling pretty down the first day of our big move. My mom was walking around the beach house, boxes in her arms as she placed them in the correct areas. She shot me an annoyed look as she kept scurrying past me, I guess she expected some help from me, or at least for me to move out of the way.

"Go out on the beach." She ordered, pointing towards the door. I sighed again, hanging my head in defeat. "Your moping is getting depressing, and I still have a lot of work to do! Since you're just going to be a lump, sitting around all day, get out of my way!" My mother always worded things so kindly.

"Yeah, yeah..." She pushed me outside, locking the door behind me. Well, looks like I had no choice but to sit on the beach for a few hours and mope around. It was awkward looking around at this big beach...it was basically empty during the early evening, but there were still a few beach goers that hadn't packed up for the day. I wish my cousins were here, but I wasn't sure where on Destiny Islands they lived, or if it was even remotely close to where we lived now.

I took a deep breath, smiling as I caught a whiff of some delicious food. Boy, I wish I had some Munny. I walked down to the water's edge, enjoying the feeling of the sand sifting between my toes. I plopped down, then wishing I had brought a towel with me. Damn sand, getting into places where it didn't belong.

I sat in silence, listening to the waves lapping against the sand. It was relaxing. Maybe getting used to this wouldn't be so hard. It was the beginning of summer vacation and I should try to keep myself happy and entertained. It'd be nice to meet new people before the school year started though, just to go in with some friends. I'd seen the school; it was a pretty big place...

A sudden pain in the back of my head brought me from my worries and back to the real world. A volleyball rolled by me, stopping at my feet. Was I gonna have to kick some butt already?

"Yo cuz, didn't know you were moving down here so soon!" I grinned, turning to meet the spiky haired red head.

"Axel!" He brought me into a tight hug, swinging me around before placing me back in the sand. I hadn't noticed how muscular he was! Although he still had those girlish hips that even I was jealous of; it messed with his male mojo whenever they were pointed out though. "Where's your brother!"

"Reno's been a stick in the mud, he's been workin' late at his 'secret' job ever since he graduated...I don't see him around much, and even if he IS, we don't ever get time to hang at the beach anymore." Axel shrugged. "He's a busy guy, but I'm sure he'll make time for family." I could see the glint of hope in Axels eyes at his last statement.

"Ah, that's right, he graduated this year, and he's 19, right?" Axel nodded, crossing his arms.

"Almost 20, his birthdays in a month or so. I wonder if he'll have off that day..." Axel shrugged his shoulders again, as if to say he didn't care, but I knew it bothered him that Reno kept secrets. They weren't openly affectionate brothers, in fact they treated each other like annoyances in public, but the two were so much alike that they understood each other better than anyone ever could. This made it pretty easy for them to talk to each other. They really were like best friends, just not in front of everyone else.

"Hey Axel, come on, pack up the volleyball stuff, I gotta get to work soon-" One of Axels friends, or so I assumed, walked over, placing a hand on Axels shoulder to get his attention. He had a mullet like hairstyle, with a few strands hanging in his face, and the biggest blue-green eyes I've ever seen. He was pretty cute, sort of dorky looking though.

"Wow..." I looked him up and down. Tan, well toned, lookin' good in his blue bathing suit shorts with little sharks on them, if he didn't have such a goofy grin on his face I might've actually considered him a beach babe. Not that his grin wasn't cute, it just wasn't that sexy smirk that would send a girl squealing like Reno could.

"Hey, I'm Demyx!" He introduced himself cheerfully; now the smile he was flashing me was slightly more attractive than the goofy one that'd been on his face a few seconds ago. "I don't ever see girls as cute as you around here!" He winked, earning him an annoyed look from Axel. I giggled, covering my mouth with my hand to stop from laughing any louder. This poor guy screamed dork, but in a way I found it flattering. He didn't seem like a bad guy, at least.

"Watch it dude, she's my cousin." The other boy laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"S-sorry..." He stuttered an apology towards Axel. "You're **(Name)**, right?" I nodded. "Well, welcome to Destiny Islands! I'm captain of the swim team, so when school starts, you should sign up! Oh, and you should sign up for Music Theory, too!" Axel rolled his eyes.

"No one's going to pay attention in that class or take it seriously Dem-" Axel's jaw dropped as he pushed Demyx aside and proceeded to stare at a pretty girl walking on the beach in a short black skirt and a white tank top. Axel was smitten with the beach beauty, a thin line of drool falling from his mouth. "Damn, look at Tifa today!"

She was a beautiful girl. She had a soft face, long brown hair, big brown eyes, and a nice pair of assets on her chest. The girl most girls wished to look like. She was walking with a guy with a bald head and glasses; he glanced at me for a second which sent a chill down my spine. Well, he certainly didn't seem to be friendly. Axel didn't pay any mind to the cold looking bald man; his eyes remained on Tifa. I was used to my cousins extreme love for woman, to put it lightly.

"Demyx, keep your hands to yourself while I handle the situation..." Axel slunk off like a lion on the prowl, and left us alone. Insert awkward silence here. My hand tapped my leg nervously as I waited for him to say something first. It was usually up to the guy to say something, right?

"Well..." Demyx started awkwardly. "If you ever want to visit me, I work down at the music store in town. Axel knows where it is; maybe you could visit me some night!" He smiled again as the awkwardness began again. He had really white teeth…

"So…" I started mumbling, I thought I might as well make a conversation. I started off by stating the obvious and building it up from there. "You're interested in music, right?" He nodded.

"I play the Sitar, it's an instrument that's only made on this island, it's sorta like the guitar but it hasn't different tones and sounds. And it's a lot more difficult to learn. I normally play it at bonfires, so come to one and I'll play you a song or two!" Demyx sure seemed excited, sort of like a little kid in a candy shop...

"Oh, I love music, I can't wait to hear you play!" This made him blush, which I also found adorable. "My house is right up there-" I pointed in the general direction of said house-"Just come up and tell me, it'll be fun to do something during the summer!" He was still flushed from my first comment, in fact it looked like he was daydreaming and not paying attention to the conversation we were having.

"Hello? You there…?" I waved a hand in front of his face, gaining his attention again as his eyes went wide.

"N-Not completely..." He coughed into his hands. "I gotta get goin', I have to get to work and if I'm late again I might get fired..." He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. Oh, a slacker? Looks like I'd be getting along with him better than I thought I would.

"Okay, well, see you around!" He smiled, giving me a cute little wave before running towards the parking lot. He may be a good swimmer, but he certainly ran rather well. Maybe he was on the track team, too. My attention went back to Axel, who had yet to return with the Volleyball equipment. It looks like Demyx was leaving now, too, and I didn't have a chance to call out and bring him back…

Axel was standing with his hands on his hips, next to the girl who seemed to be keeping her patience well. She must not have been in a hurry if she was humoring Axel. I jogged over, pushing the red head to let him know of my presence. The girl looked at me, then Axel, and smiled.

"This is my cousin I was tellin' you about." He pointed over his shoulder at me. "She's nothin' special." Well excuse me for looking somewhat average. No one can compare to this girl when they're standing next to her, there wasn't a fair chance! The girl pushed Axel out of the way, nearly sending him tumbling into the sand, and stood in front of me.

"I'm Tifa! I'm head of the Community Center in the middle of town!" The brown haired girl gave me a bright smile and held out her hand for me to shake. "I work there with a couple of my friends. I'm in charge of assigning activities, helping our community really looks good on a college resume-" she winked, "If you wanna sign up, drop by tomorrow! I'll give you a flyer with all the jobs! Summer jobs are a lot more fun than any other season, so I suggest you sign up for them ASAP or else you'll be pretty mad!"

Axel rolled his eyes. Obviously he wasn't too fond of Community Service.

"Last year Demyx signed me up to be a lifeguard with him..." Axel shivered. "Worst experience of my life." Tifa laughed.

"I've never seen someone so afraid of water!" Axel twitched, a scowl finding its way to his face as he crossed his arms.

"Who could possibly like ice cold water? I prefer the heat of the sun, got it memorized?"

"Yeah, yeah." Tifa waved a dismissive hand towards him. "Demyx was a grade 'A' lifeguard though!" Axel scoffed again.

"But a grade 'F' man..."

"Axel!" I smacked his arm. "Don't make fun of him! He's YOUR friend isn't he?" Axel rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down, I'm just kidding." I sighed. Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin and hanging out with him, but sometimes his attitude made me want to punch him in the face. I'm just being honest, it's how I am. Not that my attitude didn't annoy him sometimes, with how sarcastic and rude I could be, I've gotten him into quite a few messes, but we're family, and family always sticks together.

"Come on; walk me home Axel, Mom wants to see you!" Tifa said goodbye and hurried off into the city, muttering about how she had completely forgotten she was looking for…Cloud? She's looking for Cloud? Well if she looks up into the sky, there's a bunch of clouds for her to see!

Axel and I started off along the beach to my house, and we took that time to catch up. We hadn't been in touch since my 6th birthday. We had moved from Hollow Bastion to Destiny Islands, but as soon as we decided to move back, Reno left with Axel and moved here! It was a confusing dilemma. Maybe I should explain why they moved here.

They were treated fine, their parents are kind people, which is probably why Reno and Axel are so spoiled and have such haughty attitudes. No one had ever said no to them. Reno started to sober up to life a bit, he could take things seriously when he wanted to, and he wanted to move out.

Axel wasn't part of his plan until him and his father got into a fight. Reno doesn't baby Axel like their parents had done, he felt Axel needed a good dose of reality, and why not learn it together? Their parents, of course, said yes. They were still in touch. There were no fights. No drama, no unresolved problems, just two kids trying to see what it was like in the world without someone hovering over them.

Axel could go back at any time, and my mother has said on more than one occasion that Axel was ready to crack under the pressure of having to provide for himself, but he was stubborn. He wouldn't go running back unless you were chasing him with a chainsaw. It just shows Axel has a serious side, too, although it's not seen much.

He told me about all these girls he wanted, all these guys he wanted to punch, and the drama going on in Golden Hearts High. Although I had to take in account this was from his point of view…

This really cute girl Olette was going out with his best friend, Roxas, but there was some suspected cheating on hand. Roxas believed Olette cheated on him with this trouble-making kid Hayner, and so he broke up with Olette. Apparently Olette was so heart-broken she ran right into Hayner's arms and now they're going out. Apparently things between the three of them aren't the best, but Roxas still hangs with one of their friends, Pence, at the ice cream shop on occasion. Axel commented that Pence wasn't that memorable a person and that he had no idea why Roxas would sometimes choose to be with Pence instead of him, but he continued with his interesting stories.

The one I found most interesting, was the story of this prodigy and pretty boy, Riku. Axel said he was the school heart throb and every girl wanted a piece of him. The best on the track team, baseball, and soccer team, he was at the top of school, in sports and grades.

Well apparently, him and this girl Kairi, who Axel said wasn't as hot as people thought she was, are really good friends and her friend Selphie ,the most annoying person in the school, has some sort of obsession with him. Selphie saw Kairi and Riku walking out of school and claimed they were holding hands and since she couldn't keep her mouth shut some rumors spread around about Kairi two-timing some Sora kid, and that caused all three of them to get into a fight! But it turns out, Sora was walking with Kairi and Riku and Selphie had just decided to leave that tidbit out, and since there were no other times Kairi was with Riku, the three friends made up as they realized that Selphie was just full of it.

Kairi and Sora had broken up for good that day though; Axel says he thinks Kairi's after Roxas or Riku now. She certainly moved on quickly…

I couldn't wait to go to school now, drama was my thing. I loved hearing the latest gossip, I wouldn't spread it of course, but hearing it was always interesting. I'm just one of those people who enjoy hearing stories, you know? I'm a writer and I need inspiration from something! Maybe I should work at the school newspaper; I'm pretty good at stretching nothing at all into a few pages.

The point was, I certainly couldn't wait to go, but I never realized that I would be sucked into drama the first day I had moved to Destiny Islands.


	2. Chapter 2: Another Point of View

Demyx sighed, ruffling his hair unhappily as one hand remained firmly on the steering wheel. After driving away from the beach a bunch of jumbled thoughts had jumped into his head. He had normally found himself flustered by most pretty girls, but this one was actually nice to him. He had to admit to himself at times he was even too dorky for himself to stand, but it was where he was comfortable. He wasn't sporty, unless you counted swimming, which people rarely did. It was unusual for him to even talk to a girl longer than five seconds without her running off with some excuse.

He was comfortable talking about music, talking about his Sitar rather than talking of his painful home life or sports. It was easier to pretend nothing had happened, that nothing had changed him and that he'd always been the same dorky kid that was here today. But he used to be different, and the changes he went through caused Demyx to look in the mirror every day and thank whoever helped him along the way.

So much had happened to him and it would've been so easy for him to turn into a thug, a kid on the street sniffing papou dust. His life was better than most. Here he was today, a musician, taking part in theatre at school, manager of a music store that dished out all the latest albums and allowed him to discuss the one thing he loved most.

Music was there for him when people weren't.

But he was curiously wondering how his thoughts had even drifted to the past; he had done his best to just forget what had happened and suddenly all the memories were popping up again. He let out a yelp as he swerved his car to avoid a now annoyed driver, who was shaking their fist at him from their car window.

He needed to stop being caught up in his thoughts when he was driving.

His fingers tapped in beat to the music now playing through the car radio; he had the station set to his favorites. Anything with a beat that he could jam to was the best sort of music to him; he appreciated all genres though. He arrived at his stop, parking the car in the back and entering through the backdoor. It was big enough store to handle, and he was proud his laziness hadn't got in his way of him being promoted to a high position.

"I was afraid you were going to be late again, Demyx." His boss, Diana, smiled at him as he entered. He smiled nervously and waved. She was a beautiful woman, and the most intimidating one he'd met yet. She was very serious about her job, more so than Demyx was, and she didn't tolerate foolishness. Her and Demyx hadn't really gotten along since day one, the only common ground they had was their interest in music.

He sighed after escaping Diana's questions about his whereabouts; she acted like his girlfriend sometimes. In fact, whenever a girl came in and talked to him she'd watch him closely, and if the girl got too comfortable she'd be sent away. Diana had always claimed it was due to business issues, but even Demyx knew something was up.

'Probably jealous I get ladies and she doesn't.' He thought with a big grin as he took his post at the cash register. He'd promised he'd take over for Ventus that night. Axel's cousin popped into his head again and he let out a sigh; if only he'd been able to talk to her a bit longer. Tonight would was going to be a long night…

Mom was excited to see Axel again; it really had been too long. We had been such a tight-knit family, what happened to us? Why does it seem even the closest of people drift apart, family or not? It was as if life is a constant battle, a constant reminder that if we want to the good things in life, friends and loved ones, we must fight, we must never give into the pressure, because if we do and we go spiraling downward into reclusion, we'll lose that which we hold dearest to us.

"I'll help ya move around the boxes-" My mother hushed Axel up immediately, waving her hands defensively in front of her before giving him a soft smile. She always had a certain fondness for Axel.

"Not today. I'm done for the night; in fact I'm going to turn in now. If you want, you and Reno should stop by tomorrow and help with some of the larger boxes..." She winked. I knew she wasn't going to completely deny Axel's offer. He grinned; he was wise to my mother's ways, too. We had really been such a close family until we all moved around. Now no one even bothered renting a Gummi Ship to go family in other worlds.

Axel stopped midstep as he was leaving, lingering in the doorway and turning around with a smile.

"By the way, bonfire tomorrow. I'll come getcha, alright?" He winked as he left, leaving me to curiously wonder what exactly he was up to. Axel hardly did anything without a reason or without some sneaky intention behind his actions.

"(**Name**)!" My mother broke me from my thoughts as I stumbled up the stairs, into her room that was farthest down the hall. "Come here, darling." I entered her room, which looked much like mine. Boxes were spread and stacked on top of each other everywhere, making getting to the bed a maze of sorts. My mother was sitting on it, blanket draped over her shoulder with a piece of paper in her hand.

"What is it, mom?" I wanted to sleep; today had been a long day after all. After being around Axel long enough, you'll find yourself getting tired easily. He had much more energy than a normal human being that was for sure. My mother was lying on her bed, a piece of paper in hand which she held out to me as I approached her. I took it from her, scanning over the page before giving her a questioning look.

"It's your class assignment sheet. We're going up to the school tomorrow morning, so get to bed. I'll be waking you up at six." I glared at her big smile and cheerful tone; I wasn't going to get that much sleep if I had to pick out my classes before I go to bed. I huffed; annoyed as I slammed the door to her room just enough to make her yell at me through the door. I ignored those yells and entered my room, sighing at the big mess that it was.

Boxes lay in every corner and the only pieces of furniture that I had unpacked was my bed, a desk, and a chair, all three covered with unpacked boxes. I groaned as I moved the boxes to the floor; I groaned even louder as I realized I'd have to find a pen in all of this mess. After sifting through a few of them I finally found what I was looking for and plopped down on the chair, looking closely at the paper. So there were 8 periods in the day, the required classes with English, Math, History, Science and Gym... Well that didn't leave room for much else.

I spotted the 'Music Theory' class on the paper and circled it as Demyx came to mind. I promised I'd take that class for him, right? At least I knew one class I'd have someone in, Axel probably took all basic classes because he was lazier than a lot of people thought. He didn't want to live up to Reno's life in all Honors classes due to his obvious intelligence. I knew at least one Honors class would look good for any other school I'd like to apply to... I circled Honors History and Honors Chemistry, but my eyes spotted something of interest.

AP English.

Could I even get into it? I did like a challenge and a CP English class wouldn't be very challenging to me. The problem was, were my grades good enough for me to get into that class. I was in Honors back at my old school, but my grades were in the mid-90's. They could've been much higher than that and the people in AP classes are the best of the best, the geniuses of the school, the losers who don't get dates to Homecoming or Prom and end up going with their siblings or cousins! I placed a check mark next to it, seeing as I was going to the school tomorrow anyway I could ask whoever I was supposed to if I could.

I circled the other required classes and circled my lunch; there were only 8 periods in a day, each was 45 minutes long and we had 3 minutes between each class to reach our destination. So with what I had taken, lunch, gym, English, Chemistry, History, and Music Theory, I had one last class to pick from. It took me a few seconds as I scanned the electives on the last page, but I couldn't find anything that really interested me. I could take another Math, however I'd already gotten my three years after doubling up sophomore year. I wasn't too keen of Math though, so I'd rather take a Study Hall...

"I'll ask about it tomorrow." I muttered tiredly, dropping the pen onto the desk. I was already falling asleep, I had to get to sleep soon enough… I heard my phone begin buzzing, making me jump in surprise at the sudden noise. Who would be texting me this late?

I had two texts… I flipped open the phone, smiling as I read Axels text.

'_Nice seein' ya again cuz, Reno says he'll drop by tomorrow afternoon, ttyl cutie ;) P.S: Dem Dem seems pretty interested, gave him your number. Text me back if he gets the cajones to actually use it.'_ I snickered, exiting Axel's text and checking the text from the unknown number.

'_Hey, it's Demyx, Axel gave me your number… it was nice meeting you today! I hope I'll see you at the Bonfire tomorrow night…' _

"How cute." I smiled as I replied to his message.

_'Hey Demyx, nice meeting you too. I'll be there, see ya soon! :)'_ Flirty enough, right? He wouldn't be a bad catch… I shut my phone, placing it on the charger before walking over to the mattress on the floor. I shuffled around in the closet before finding a blanket and pillow to use; by then I was practically falling over my own two feet. Finally, I was able to collapse on the bed and fall to sleep.

My new life was fresh in my mind, and I'd have to get use to the idea eventually, right?


	3. Chapter 3: Being Normal is Overrated

"Get up, it's a brand new day and the sun is shining!" I felt a pillow slap hard against my head and I groggily swiped at my mother, who expertly avoided my attack. "I let you sleep later than I should have, the Principal gave us a specific time to meet, and he's a very busy man after all!" I sat up in my bed, my hair a tangled mess and make up from yesterday that I hadn't wiped off smeared on my face. "Maybe a shower would do you some good."

She pushed me into the bathroom, starting the shower before disappearing into my room. I let out a tired groan, stretching my arms as I let the steam wake me up. She drifted back in with a nice pair of jeans and a dress shirt that I would never wear on any other occasion and placed them on the counter for me; at least I had good ol' mom to rely on for now…

"Axel, get the hell up!" The red headed teenager groaned when his brother pushed him, and let out a yelp of surprise as he was thrown onto the floor. He wished he could lie in bed all day in only a tattered pair of boxers, but according to his oh-so-loving older brother, that'd never happen.

Reno stood above Axel, smirking. "I told you. Hop in the shower and lets head down to (**Name**)'s before they leave for the school." Axel groaned again in response, earning an annoyed look from his _somewhat_ more responsible older brother. Reno roughly grabbed onto Axels shoulder, forcing him into a standing position before walking into the hall to give Axel his privacy.

He began putting his clothes on, earning a glare from Reno who hadn't left yet.

"I said get a shower." Axel mocked him in a high-pitched voice, tossing the shirt on the floor again before entering the bathroom down the hall. Sometimes his brother would get on his nerves, Reno used to be a lot of fun when they lived with their parents. Axel smoked his first cigarette with Reno, drunk his first beer with Reno, even stole his first candy bar from a store with Reno. But now Reno would never even consider doing anything with Axel anymore, he was just no fun since he'd gotten his job with Shinra Inc.

"Hey Axel." Reno knocked after he'd heard Axel enter the shower. "Can I come in?"

"Doors unlocked." Axel muttered. They were both men, with no shame at all and nothing to really hide from each other, so what did it matter? Reno normally didn't even ask to walk in half the time, he barged in unannounced and without a care in the world. That's why Axel knew when he had politely asked that Reno was about to spring some emotional bullshit on him. Something Axel hated even more.

Demyx woke up to the blaring sound of his alarm clock, sitting up and stretching. He lazily reached over, smacking the snooze button on his alarm before falling back onto the pillow. He covered his eyes with his hand, hoping that it'd be a few more hours before he had to awake, however he knew it wasn't true.

Lately he'd been depressed, stuck in a rut he couldn't break himself from. He would wake up to an empty apartment, go to work with a boss who hated him, maybe hang out with the friends that actually cared enough to realize he existed, and then he'd come home to his dark, empty apartment. He hadn't felt thrilled by anything, the only moments of true happiness he could ever feel were when his Sitar was in his hand and he was making beautiful music that could express the feelings he could not put into words.

"Another day, another dollar!" He piped up enthusiastically as he sat up, stretching again before dragging himself into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror, sighing as he ruffled his already messed up hair.

He'd always try to be the optimistic one, the one who was straight edge and never did anything wrong. He was the designated driver, the good boy, the lookout, the _boring _one. He was a nobody until he had a Sitar in hand and a crowd of people to watch him. He never had a sense of normalcy in his life, his mom had died like the drug addict she was on an overdose and his father had disappeared sometime after her death.

No, his life never was normal.

But that's what gave him inspiration to write music. It's that pain that helped him express himself in the only way he knew that worked, through a beautiful melody he could express the deep emotional scars that'd been left on him by his horrid past and his terrible parents.

He never let anyone know though. No one truly knew about what happened to him or the scars that would show if one ever took one hard look at him. He didn't know how to deal with it, so he pushed them down and away, at times refusing to believe that the things that had happened to him were reality. Sometimes he could convince himself that it was all just a dream…

And then he'd wake up to the empty apartment and the wounds would reopen.

"Oh, Reno, Axel, so good to see the two of you!" I greeted Reno with a tight hug, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him swing me around like he used to do when I was much younger. I hadn't seen him in such a long time, I had been worried he wouldn't even recognize me.

"Nice to see you too, shortie." He ruffled my hair, laughing as I slapped his hand away and ran to a mirror to fix it up again. He knew more than anyone that I hated it when people ruffled up my hair, and normally at family parties this would've caused a prank war that would end up affecting everyone and getting us into trouble.

Back then we didn't really care that much. Now, we care far too much about what others have to say.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and change around the past so that our family never drifted apart. So that Reno didn't have to grow up too quickly, so Axel learned to appreciate his family more. It would never happen, but it was wishful thinking, wasn't it?

"We'll get outta your hair." Reno grinned, a grin that could cause any ladies heart to stop beating for a few seconds, before heading outside to talk privately with my mother. Axel sighed, running a hand through his spiked up hair.

"Woke you up earlier than you'd like?" I asked with a smile, knowing Axel better than most means it was easy for me to read him. He was definitely tired and annoyed at the moment, but what I couldn't tell was that it hadn't all come from being woken up early. "You really should learn how to go to bed at a decent time, whether it's summer or not!"

"Roxas and I were working on our project… well, he was working and I was watching. Point is, it got done and now I have all of summer to not worry about school!" He replied sleepily with a lazy grin.

"You actually got something done early?"

"Roxas has a better work ethic then I do… You'd get along with him; maybe I'll introduce you sometime." He stretched, placing his arms behind his head. "He's not very social, so he won't be at the bonfire tonight with me."

"Is Demyx coming?" Axels grin suddenly turned devious, and his eyes narrowed as his arms dropped to his sides.

"Someone sounds interested~" He teased. "I didn't know wimpy was your type."

"Shh! Don't speak so loud. If mom hears that I have interest in some guy, even if it means noth-"

"You already have a boyfriend, darling? I knew I shouldn't let you out on the beaches in those little bikinis you have upstairs. I might have to remove all those skirts too, thank goodness for the school having a uniform!" My mother burst through the door, Reno following closely behind with a stoic look on his face. He nodded his head towards the door; Axel rolled his eyes, patting my shoulder before following his brother out.

I guess the only thing left to do today was deal with was this school meeting…


	4. Chapter 4: Golden Hearts High School

The car ride wasn't a long one; my mother decided to inform me then that she'd be making me walk to school unless I found a ride from another person (whom she'd have to approve of). I shot her an annoyed look, my overall laziness was not going to appreciate all the exercise I was going to be forced to get. I couldn't raise much protest however; as she parked the car and we were heading into the school in no time.

When I say this place is huge, I wasn't exaggerating. A huge sign was placed in front of the entrance gates, with 'Golden Hearts High School' written in elegant script, a large golden heart being placed directly under it. The sign looked good as new, as though it were constantly cleaned and tended to. The school, the inside and the outside, was utter perfection. The flowers and grass were perfectly tended to; I could see a man in the distance tending to the azaleas out front at the moment.

Inside the floors were light blue and white checkered, shining as though there was no a speck of dirt on them. Dark blue lockers lined the walls even as we walked in; they only stopped a few spaces from the doors to various classrooms. It felt like walking through a maze, this school wasn't going to be a hard one to get lost in. Directly to the right was the office, conveniently placed for first time visitors and Freshmen to find.

"Good morning." My mother greeted the receptionist warmly, who only looked up at her quietly and nodded. I looked over at the nametag that was on the desk, it read 'Zexion'. Well that didn't really help me determine whether it was a boy or girl…

"I assume you're here to speak with the Principal?" Ah, a boy. My mother nodded, a bit taken back by the frosty demeanor he was giving off. She wasn't used to people who were cheerful and friendly, another could thing about being in our family. All of us were basically social butterflies. "Go through the door in the back, he's waiting for your arrival." She nodded, pulling me along past the desk where he sat and leading me into the back room.

A man with broad shoulders and eyes cold as ice sat behind the desk, his hands folded as his eyes followed us until we took a seat in the two chairs in front of him. I couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated, the man radiated power and intelligence and it wasn't hard to see why he was principal of the school. I wouldn't even think of disobeying any rules if this is where I got sent in the end. Who knows what would happen to you?

The room was kept dark and cold. The walls were adorned with many degrees and accomplishments of the Principal; apparently he'd had a lot of training not only in teaching but in the military as well. As he spoke to my mother I continued to look around the room, glancing towards his desk that had papers neatly placed across it. My eyes landed on a particular piece of paper that held an odd symbol on it; it resembled one of those Sitars that I'd seen on a TV commercial before.

The Principals large hand covered the symbol and drew my attention back to him. A smirk was on his face; I gulped, doing my best to shrink back in my seat.

"(First Name) (Last Name). You have an outstanding record, good credentials, an all honors student… Just what this school needs. We welcome you with open arms." His smile seemed cold and fake; he looked as though he were forcing his emotions. "I will confirm all your classes and you will receive your schedule the first day of school. There is one thing you must know about this school, however…"

"We do not tolerate troublemakers. One wrong move and you will suffer the consequences. Do I make myself clear?" I nodded quickly, my mother patting my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me.

"My daughter is a good kid, not a single sign of detention or suspension in her life." He nodded, flipping through the yellow folder on his desk that must've held all my records within it. "You won't have any problems with her."

"Let us hope." He replied shortly, shutting the folder and moving it off to the side. "You are dismissed." My mother raised an eyebrow at his odd remark, but ignored it as she grabbed onto my arm and the two of us left the room. I could finally breathe without feeling as though I was going to be shot. I never wanted to end up in there again.

As we entered the car again, my mother crossed her arms and pouted.

"The person I was on the phone with was so nice! We just met two grumps." She started the car and sighed. "Anywhere special you wanna go for lunch before we're home?" I looked at the clock, noting that it was already 1, we'd been exploring the school and talking to the principal much longer than I'd realized.

"Well, I wanna check out this one music shop after lunch, if that's alright?" She nodded.

"Of course honey. Food first though, I'm hungry." I couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, mom. How about that cute little coffee shop we passed? They're bound to have something good in there!" She scowled.

"Something fattening and not very good for me…"

"We were blessed in this family with perfect figures mother." I teased. The way our family worked was skinny waists and large hips that could jut out awkwardly if the person was too underweight. Axel was the unfortunate boy in the family to gain his mothers features instead of his fathers.

"Alright, alright. One chocolate donut won't hurt, I guess."

It was only a few minutes from the school, and home, convenient for those who would leave for lunch. We took a seat near the window, and talked for awhile as we waited for someone to come take our order. The little baristas all seemed busy; there seemed to be a special going on today. The Paopu fruit donut, normally expensive but today it was free. A lot of the young couples were ordering it…

"Sorry about that. Can I take your order?" The boy was abnormally short, with spiked up blonde hair and big blue eyes. Whoa! Was this island just made up of cute boys?

"Two chocolate donuts, one coffee, black with two packs of sugar, and a hot chocolate." My mother looked at the menu, scanning for any other thing she liked as our barista, whose nametag read 'Ventus', was scribbling down our order. "Ooh, maybe we should try a Paopu donut, (**Name**)!"

"Whatever you want, Mom…" I was beginning to grow embarrassed of her taking such a long time, but Ventus stood by with a smile and waited patiently, not rushing my mother.

"And one Paopu donut, please! That'll be all." She gave him a warm smile which he returned as he took the order into the back where many of the baristas were disappearing into. "He's a cutie!"

"He is… He looks a little young though. You know I like 'em older." She gave me a dirty look, ready to raise protest and scold me for saying something like that around her, when Ventus came back with our donuts. He placed the chocolate ones directly in front of us, placing the smaller Paopu donut between us before hurrying off to get our drinks.

"How cute!" My mother giggled as she cut the star shaped donut in half. "What makes it so special though?"

"It's made with a fruit only found on the island." Ventus piped up, placing our respective drinks in front of us. "It has a whole legend behind it, really interesting actually. I wouldn't be able to tell it as well as my coworkers, since I just moved here and all, but it's rumored to-"

"Oh, let me tell it Ven~" The short boy was pushed out of the way by an enthusiastic girl with a cute smile. "I'm Selphie! You're obviously new to the island since you haven't heard of this adorable, romantic little legend! Well, it's said that anyone who shares a Paopu fruit that they'll be connected forever, even star-crossed lovers would be drawn back to each other! Now, isn't that just romantic~?" She sighed dreamily. "I wish a guy would share a Paopu fruit with me!"

"Try not being obnoxious and it'd work." A new voice joined in. Axel grinned , pushing me over slightly on my seat before sitting down with me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Bye Selphie."

"Bye, pervert." Selphie scowled, wiggling her butt as she hurried off to work again.

"Hey Axel!" Ventus greeted my cousin cheerfully, and Axel nodded in response.

"Hey Ven. Didn't know you worked today. I guess you're not coming to the bonfire either?"

"Aqua didn't want me to go anyway." Ven looked a bit disappointed as he shook his head. "Even if Terra went with me she said it'd 'be for the best' if I didn't go…"

"Bossy one, isn't she?" Axel said with a smirk. "Well, this is my cousin (**Name**)."

"O-Oh! Your cousin that you've been telling Roxas about? I never introduced myself! I'm Ventus, nice to meet you!" He outstretched his hand which I proceeded to shake.

"I'm (Name). It's nice to meet you, too!" Axel laughed.

"Calm down Ven, she is still my cousin; they're still a no touch zone." Ventus turned pink, pouting before heading towards another table to take their order. "Knew that'd chase him away. He's a good kid. Roxas' younger brother by a few minutes. Twins."

"Oh, so that's how you know him?"

"You get to know everyone once you're in school. You'll have classes with plenty of people."

"I'm in all Honors…" Axel rolled his eyes, as if he didn't expect it.

"You're the only overachiever in this family." My mother let out a snort as she tried to eat her donut. "You'll definitely be in classes with Riku-" -he rolled his eyes at the mention of this kids name- "-Maybe Roxas, he only has one if I remember right. Oh, Zexion, too!"

"Did you say Zexion? The receptionist at the school?"

"Well I did think he was a little young… and plenty rude." My mother huffed as she sipped her coffee. Axel shrugged his shoulders.

"He's quiet. Not really one of my friends, but I've had to talk to him a few times. He's not too bad…" Axel glanced down at his watch. "Look (Name), your boyfriend!" I flushed, turning to look out the window and spotting Demyx across the street, walking with his hands in his pockets and a set of earphones on his ears. "Let's go say hi. If you have permission." Axel fluttered his eyes at my mother, who sighed and nodded for us to go ahead.

"Axel, look both ways before crossing the street!" I cried out in surprise as he pulled me through traffic, cars honking their horns at us, and even hearing a few 'you crazy kids' from a few. "Agh, damn it!" Axel was much stronger than I was, evidenced by the slight muscle that showed through the muscle shirt he was wearing today, and when he flung me forward I could do nothing to stop myself from running into the poor, unsuspecting teen.

"Oof!" Demyx tumbled forward, managing to catch himself before he hit the ground. I wasn't as lucky. I winced as my hands scraped against the sidewalk, turning back to glare at Axel, who was whistling innocently with his hands behind his head. Demyx smiled as he saw me, placing the earphones around his neck and leaning down to help me up, being careful of my wounds. "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah." I found myself turning redder by the minute. Could this kid get any cuter? Or any sweeter? Axel could certainly take a few lessons from him. I glared back at my cousin again before speaking to Demyx. "I was going to come by a visit the record shop to see you soon." It was his turn to blush.

"R-Really?" He squeaked, causing Axel to snicker in the background.

"Looks like his balls won't be droppin' any time soon…" 

"Quiet Axel!" I hissed, jutting my hip out and pushing Axel into a trashcan. "Anyway, it looks like you're on break though! I don't wanna bother you!"

"I was just heading back. You could walk with me if you want; we've got some great stuff."

"Well, I'm gonna go!" Axel stated. "I'll go keep your darling mother company, (**Name**), see ya crazy kids later!" He leaned towards Demyx, whispering something in his ear that made him look uncomfortable and nervous. With a final wave, he crossed the street now and went over to the coffee shop, where my mother was watching me out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't going to be too thrilled with this idea…

But now I had to think of what to do, now that I was alone with Demyx! I didn't want to make myself look like a complete loser for a potential friend and possibly something more. I wasn't going to kid around; he had boyfriend potential, although the age difference might make my mother less willing to accept it. He was Axel's friend though, so maybe that'd give him some brownie points! Why was I even thinking about all of this right now?

"Let's get moving!" I gave him a cheerful smile, walking beside him as the two of us made our way down to the music shop.

Today was definitely going to be a good day.


End file.
